Pelosi Slams Abdul El-Sayed in Final Days of Michigan Senate Race
In the closing days of Michigan's Senate race, the fight over Abdul El-Sayed's stance on Israel and his support among Black Detroit voters is dominating the final stretch, while his opponent Mike Rogers keeps dodging local reporters.
- Nancy Pelosi publicly criticized El-Sayed, calling his comments questioning Israel's status as a Jewish state "wrong," though she stopped short of pulling the party's support.
- Reporting on the ground pushes back on the narrative that El-Sayed is losing Black voters to Mike Rogers, with polling showing around 88-90% support for him among that group, higher than other recent Democratic candidates got.
- A small but vocal group of Jewish Democrats in Oakland County, organized as "Democrats for Mike Rogers," are backing Rogers over El-Sayed's Israel rhetoric, but they're a small slice of the electorate.
- Mike Rogers is largely avoiding hostile press and skipping debates, even as his campaign tries to soften anti-Muslim rhetoric coming from his own supporters and allies.
- Early turnout in Detroit is expected to be higher than usual, suggesting strong enthusiasm for El-Sayed heading into election day.
Outlook: Turnout and vote-counting in Detroit could stretch late into election night, with the race expected to come down to how reliably Black and Arab-American coalitions turn out versus a smaller but motivated bloc of Rogers backers.